ITINAGONG 2,007 Certificates of Land Ownership Awards o CLOAs ang natuklasan kamakailan ng Department of Agrarian Reform ayon sa press conference ng ahensya nitong Lunes. Ang mga CLOAs ay may kabuuang 254,000 ektarya ng lupain na dapat sana’y ipinamahagi na sa mga Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries noong pang taong 1987.
“We will be filing charges against 13 officials whose responsibility should be to distribute these CLOAs. When the formal investigation begins, they will be reassigned to other posts and will be replaced by officials who are neutral to the case so the operations in DAR Cebu Province will continue,” saad ni DAR Secretary John Castriciones.
Ang mga natuklasang dokumento ay 1,620 CLOAs at 387 Emancipation Patents (EPs) na dapat sana’y ipinamahagi na noong pang taong 1987, ay nakasilid sa dalawang sako at nakatago sa tanggapan ng DAR-Cebu Land Transfer and Implementation Division.
Ang pagkaka tuklas ng mga dokumento ay resulta ng imbestigasyong ng DAR upang alamin kung bakit may mga hindi naipamahaging CLOAs noong mga nakaraang taon.
Kasalukuyan na ngayong iniimbestigahan ang mga opisyal na may kaugnayan sa mga itinagong CLOAs, at kung ano ang kanilang motibo kung bakit hindi ito ipinamahagi sa mga farmer beneficiaries.
“As far as the perspective of management is concerned, the fact that they were not able to distribute the CLOAs makes them liable. Whatever the reasons are, the fact that there is a failure to distribute those CLOAs, there will be sanctions. The need to ensure that we remain faithful to our task of delivering the EP or CLOAs to the ARBS (Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries) cannot be over-emphasized. This task is of paramount importance and should not be delayed on the pretext that there is an existing technical, legal, or operational issue,” ayon pa kay Castriciones.
Ipinahayag din ni Castriciones sa mga nakaraan nitong interviews na ang pamamahagi ng lupa sa mga ARBS ay ang pangunahing nilang mandato sa ilalim ng Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
“That is, to address the social injustice of our land acquisition and distribution, considering that many of the lands here in our country are actually owned by a very few people, landed people,” dagdag pa ni Castriciones.
Nangako si Castriciones na ipamamahagi nila ang mga CLOAs sa mga farmer-beneficiaries sa lalo’ng madaling panahon.
Ayon naman sa panayam ng Philippine News Agency kay DAR Director for Legal Service, Atty. Jason Collado, mayroon pa umanong ibang opisyal, bukod sa 13 sa Cebu ang maaaring managot sa pag arangkada ng imbestigasyon..
“That will be a growing number. They will face criminal and administrative charges. It is punishable by imprisonment and the payment of a fine if it is proven that the failure is due to a culpable neglect or a willful omission,” pahayag ni Atty. Jason Collado
Samantala, nilinaw naman ni DAR Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Office Elmer Distor na sa 2,007 na dokumento, 1,585 dito ay kailangan pang i-validate upang maiwasan ang mga kaso kagaya ng conflict of ownership at iba pa.
“The second phase of the validation will include reports and recommendations from DAR municipal agrarian reform officers on the circumstance of the 2,007 stored CLOAS, a survey of the landholdings, and strategic plans from the DAR provincial and municipal offices to hasten the process flow obtaining CLOAS,” saad ni Elmer Distor.
(Courtesy of Philippine News Agency)
